I've been using Perl for a few months now, and have no experience with PHP. Is there a reason noone seems to be using Perl?
I've been using Perl to access a MYSQL database and perform some very basic Select statements. Should I be pushing my efforts into learning PHP?
In my experience, both Perl and PHP are very powerful. My first database driven website used Perl back in 1998 and it worked great.
I believe PHP has an easier learning curve and it was actually created for use on the web. Several years ago you may have been able to say that Perl was more mature and more capable of doing a wider variety of things than PHP as far as websites go. I am not so sure this is really the case now.
Back when the web was first catching on, Perl was drafted into server side CGI scripting use because there wasn't much else available. Because of this, to me it seems a little clunky to use on websites. But I am sure that is only because I have chosen PHP as my main scripting language and so know it better.
There are actually a fair number of perl threads in here but it seems that on various occassions php tends to run the roost. I don't think you need to go nuts and switch to php.
We have a bunch of perl users here and a bunch that know both so you aren't in anyway in the minority. I do notice that there are a lot more new users coming in to talk php than there are to talk perl, doesn't mean there are none, just fewer.
I am always very happy to see a few more perl folk wander in, helps keep a good balance of skills.
The first scripting I ever did was perl but am a die hard php coder now because of circumstance.
Perl at the command line (e.g. SSH or {cringe} telnet) is extremely powerful and you can do things that you cannot easily do in PHP.
But that's just my $0.02
Scott Geiger
